Sunday, May 26, 2013

Just Give Them What They Want...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Prosecutors say a Tennessee pharmacy owner killed during a robbery had handed over several bottles of oxycodone before he was shot to death.Grainger County District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn made the comments Friday, one day after the owner of Down Home Pharmacy in Bean Station, a town in East Tennessee, was killed during the robbery. Police say a customer was also killed and two people were wounded.

So, the pharmacist complied, did exactly as the robber demanded, and got shot dead anyways. Seems he would have been a lot better served reaching under the counter for a .38 Special. As it was, a customer died and two more were wounded as the criminal tried to leave no witnesses. This being TN, though, I'm a little surprised that no one else in the store was armed - although it is easy to armchair quarterback when no one's pointing a gun at me...

This is the fallacy of the "Just give them what they want" argument, folks. You. Never. Know. Sure, the guy sticking a gun in your face may be a father, out of work for a year with no money, struggling to feed his family, hating himself for having to do this and meaning you no harm. Or he could be a junkie looking for a fix whose drug-addled brain thinks it's better to execute everyone in the room rather than get caught for armed robbery. You. Never. Know. Telling people to comply with the robber's demands rather than fight back assumes that the robber is in control of their mental faculties and acting rationally.

That's an assumption I am not willing to make.

If someone threatens your life, you had damn well take them at face value. You absolutely NEED to act as though they have every single intention of following through on that threat - because they just might. I don't necessarily mean start shooting - if the opportunity presents itself, "running like a scared jackrabbit" is a perfectly viable defense strategy. If you're a halfway decent runner they're not about to chase you, and moving targets are hard to hit. But if you can't run away, whether from age, infirmity, or familial obligations, then you need to have a plan to deal with someone making threats against your life.

I prefer using the best tools possible, whether they be from Gaston Glock, Mssrs. Smith & Wesson, or otherwise...

5 comments:

Yes. When a man points a gun at you and demands your money, there's an unconscious assumption -- "give me your money and I won't shoot you" -- even though he may never say that at all.

And what if he does? He's already announced, with his actions, that he's willing to commit murder in order to get your money. You think a person willing to do that will be unwilling to lie?

I forget who said it, but when your policy is to acquiesce to the mugger, you're putting your faith in someone who is already acting in bad faith. You're relying on the honor of someone who is already acting without honor. You're expecting a social contract from someone who has already violated it.

In my opinion (worth every cent you paid for it), it's not about the money. ("There's nothing in your purse worth dying for!") It has nothing to do with what the mugger is demanding. It has everything to do with him threatening your life. Once that happens, you owe it to yourself to do what it takes to remove the threat -- either by running like hell, as Jay says (if you can), or by other means.

It is a foregone conclusion that the bad guys will have guns. The question of gun control is whether or not the good guys will have them too.

Someone is willing to kill you or seriously harm you when they point that weapon at you. Otherwise, why would they bother to do that, and why would you comply with their demands? The assumption that they intend no harm to you is baseless and fantasy, offered by those who care more for other things than your safety and sense of well being. If only 0.1% of armed robberies end in the harming of the victim (no, I do not know the actual number), who will guarantee you that you will be in the 99.9% of outcomes?

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